Sunday, 15 June 2014

COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN

Elettrosmog
began life in Verona in 2003 with a first line up featuring Michele
Antonelli (vocals, guitar, flute), Francesco Delli Paoli (bass),
Alessandro Pontone (guitar), Massimo Babbi (keyboards), Cristian
Maselli (drums) and Alessandro Savelli (bouzuky, banjo, mandolin,
acoustic guitar). They were clearly influenced by Italian prog bands
of the early seventies such as Premiata Forneria Marconi, Banco del
Mutuo Soccorso, Le Orme or Delirium (on their official website you
could even find a short history of Rock Progressivo Italiano)
but also by hard rock, jazz, blues, reggae and Italian canzone
d'autore. After an interesting demo recorded in 2004, they
started performing live on the local scene. Later, Alessandro Savelli
left the band and in 2006 Elettrosmog self-released their first full
length album, “Monologando”. According to the liner notes, it's a
concept album dealing with the difficulties that human beings can
experience when they have to communicate with each other in different
situations. Well, probably the beautiful art cover by Andrea Sbrogiò
describes the content of the album better than my words.

The
opener “Trappole per topi” (Mousetraps) is a nice track full of
obscure energy. The music and lyrics depict a man who's on the verge
of folly, a dreamer who desperately search for a shelter from the
daily grind. He's surrounded by people he can't understand and who
show off a false serenity... “Enough is enough! My head is blowing
up / I have to run away from here / A stereophonic madness completes
my mania / It reverberates and swings for me...”.

The
following “Economania” is a caustic track about the “New
Economy”, where money rules and the marketing laws decide what you
have to do. So, you have to stop thinking of social ideals, nothing
matters but your ego... The new economy ethic becomes a silly and
vain vicious circle where men act like marionettes stumbling on the
threads of the Euro-autarchy, pushed by ambition and materialism.

“Fiore
di carta” (Paper flower) is a melancholic, introspective track
where the music and lyrics depict a man who gets lost in a labyrinth
of madness and who's burning out like a paper flower, stranded and
poisoned by a nightmarish solitude. Suicide or hypocrisy can't save
his soul...

“Dialogo”
(Dialogue) is a short acoustic, instrumental interlude that leads to
the following “Quanto costa un litro di benzina?” (How much does
a litre of gasoline?), an ironic track that blends reggae and Jethro
Tull. The music and lyrics tell about a man obsessed by the ever
growing cost of oil who decides to buy a bicycle and ride it feeling
like Fausto Coppi.

“Non
è così (Il mio regalo per te)” (It's not so – My present for
you) is a complex track featuring many changes in mood and rhythm.
It begins softly, the atmosphere is dark, melancholic then the rhythm
rises and at some point Focus and Jethro Tull could come to mind. A
man realizes that he's adopting ideas that he doesn't share just to
get along with his sweetheart and he's getting tired to live as a
hypocrite. The breaking up is traumatic, his last present might be
mischievous and dishonest... Just his voice recorded on a tape: slow,
magnetic words that will take him away forever.

The
following “Monologo” (Monologue) is a short, delicate
instrumental piano solo track that leads to “Compromesso storico”
(Historic compromise), a powerful, complex track that draws in music
and lyrics the portrait of a cynical politician who's good for every
season, a demagogic media metastasis who knows how to use democracy
in spite of ethics.

“Tu
ti senti meno” (You feel less) is another track that describes the
crises of a relationship in an effective way. A woman wants too much
from his man, but she can't have everything and the game is over and
there's no room left for words... The final track “Rootood” is a
short instrumental where you can hear a telephone call and the
recorded voice of an answering machine. A good conclusion for a very
interesting album that in my opinion is really worth listening to.

After
the recording sessions bassist Francesco Delli Paoli left the band
and Paolo Iemmi stepped in. Unfortunately, the new line up didn't
last for long and in 2007 Elettrosmog split up. Anyway, two years
later a new band called Astrolabio came to life from Elettrosmog's
ashes... But this is another story!